Weight Loss When the Odds Seemed to be Stacked Against You

I’ve struggled with weight for about 12 years now.  Three years ago I wrote this post: https://wordpress.com/post/42194332/326/  which gets a ton of views every day, but I still have yet to lose a significant amount of weight to take me out of the “morbidly obese” category.  After trying and failing on many diets, workout plans, attempted lifestyle changes, doctors visits and labs all with no success and no answers, I became frustrated and needed better answers.  Bear with me for this long story, but maybe it will help someone else?  I apologize for the possible TMI in this post, but, I just want to be completely honest and open about my experience! There are so many amazing pieces to the puzzle and the way our bodies work that I really can’t comprehend most of it, but now that I have some answers I can start chipping away at the problems that keep me overweight.

I didn’t become over 100 pounds overweight until my early/mid 20’s (I’m 32 now). Some of these changes occurred because I changed from an active job on my feet 8 hours per day to sitting at a desk for the past 12 years. As my life became busier, I became less and less active. This made me less and less motivated to even attempt to exercise since my weight and sitting all day made it nearly impossible to do anything longer than 10-15 minutes which hardly seemed worthwhile.

I’m busy! I’m a working mom, and a minister’s wife. I work 40 hours a week, plus any other outside creative jobs I take on, plus church services. I have two kids – one is 1, one will be 4 in a few weeks. We have one car and an hour and a half commute to work and back home each day.  Who has time for anything else? I can barely keep my house semi-decent looking!

My two pregnancies both ended up with early onset gestational diabetes I was tested at the normal 28 weeks the first pregnancy but probably had it sooner since I had such rapid weight gain the first trimester. The 2nd pregnancy I also had rapid weight gain the first trimester and was tested at 17 weeks. The 1st pregnancy I was able to keep my numbers down with diet until the last month or two and they put me on a pill (can’t remember what it was, but not metformin).  The 2nd pregnancy I was not so lucky. Regardless as to how controlled my diet was, my numbers were still high and the pill wasn’t working, so I had to give myself insulin injections. I’ve had two c-sections, and after each birth my glucose levels returned to normal, but my body has proven that it is very insulin resistant.  It’s so frustrating when your doing all that you can possibly do to maintain decent numbers with gestational diabetes, yet, your body keeps fighting you! One doctor (rudely) told me during my last pregnancy that I was taking a lot of insulin and if I didn’t get my numbers under control, that I would end up with Type 2 Diabetes after my pregnancy. Thanks for your vote of confidence lady…..Each year I have to return to the doctor to be tested for diabetes. So far, just over a year out, a clean bill of health.

A year after my first pregnancy I seemed to still have signs of some sort of hormone imbalance, but I didn’t quite know what was wrong. I went to an internal medicine doctor, as well as an endocrinologist and had a ton of labs run to test for a number of things – diabetes, thyroid, adrenal gland, testosterone levels, PCOS, to name a few.  At that time my levels came back all within normal range.  My cholesterol and blood pressure were all just fine.  So I received no answers. Essentially, I was a “healthy” fat person. The doctor told me that if regular weight loss methods weren’t working for me then my only other option was bariatric surgery (except, um, these surgeries require you to have several co-morbidities and the only issue I had was that I was morbidly obese/high BMI!). I wouldn’t even qualify for the surgery if I wanted to. I gave up, feeling like there was something wrong with me still, but no one could figure out what it was.

Last September (2014) after doing some research, I decided to get the Paragard IUD put in.  My body doesn’t respond well to hormone birth control. My emotions are a roller coaster, and I have what I jokingly call psychotic rages (once during our first year of marriage I got so upset at my husband that I kicked over a plant in our living room spraying dirt and leaves everywhere, to which I then responded by sitting on the kitchen floor sobbing about how the plant that my mom had given me for my birthday was now ruined…..coo coo! My husband just stared at me, jaw dropped. He didn’t really know whether to run away to save himself or give me a hug. We decided it was time for me to get off the pill).

I did okay for the first 6 months on the Paragard except for the ridiculously heavy periods! The first three months had me about ready to go take the thing out myself.  When people say their periods are heavy on this thing, it’s no joke. TMI but I literally bled more than I did after the birth of my children.  I’m talking super plus tampon changed less than an hour in just to help feel like there was a little relief, along with a super plus pad on for protection. These leveled out a bit, but the periods are still much heavier than normal.

About 6 months ago, something started to change for me mentally, although, it took me about 3 months to even notice/figure it out. I knew that postpartum depression can still hit at different stages during the first year or so after the birth of a baby, but while I couldn’t quite put a finger on it, this didn’t seem to be the issue.  About 3 months ago, I figured out that each month about a week or so prior to my period starting I was an emotional roller coaster. I am generally a pretty quiet, even-keeled, stress-free person. This started to make me feel as though I was insane. I cannot even fully describe in words what I went through, but, it was like PMS on steroids. One day I would cry at just about anything, the next day I would be so incredibly angry and irritable at people for no apparent reason (while this may seem normal for some, this is very abnormal for me). The kicker was that during that time I would have high anxiety for no apparent reason and felt a sense of impending doom. I would then get depressed and feel like I was not worth anything, my life wasn’t going in the direction I wanted it to be, and would become so deep in my thoughts trying to figure out where I had gone wrong, why things weren’t working out the way I thought they should be. The ups and downs were becoming unbearable.  I felt grateful to be aware of them, but miserable that I couldn’t figure out what to do about it.

At that point I started doing some more research on my own regarding these symptoms and the other issues I was having which were:
-hair loss (not postpartum related),
-abnormal dark hair under chin, top lip, and stomach,
-inability to lose weight (my body literally resets to 268 lbs after every attempt to lose, and I had already lost all pregnancy -weight within the first two months postpartum each time),
-slow metabolism
-exhausted every day/not waking up feeling rested (I literally fall asleep on the couch each night at 8:30 or so)
-zits around chin, sometimes chest
-Slow digestion/infrequent bowel movements
-extreme mood swings
-excessive sweating
-very low libido
-inability to find my words when speaking/poor memory recall

What I found was really interesting! Apparently there are a lot of people out there dealing with copper toxicity mainly, because of the Paragard!  Well okay, that was fine, but if that and condoms are really my only birth control option then what could I do? It was as though I had to choose between me and my husband not having another child, or dealing with the insane side effects of this or another form of birth control pills. While we had used them for years prior, condoms seem to be a mood killer. I was already having extremely low libido issues (not just hormone related, but again – I’m a working mom, 2 young kids…..I’m just plain exhausted!) I didn’t want to add to the problem.

I began reading Dr. Wilson’s slow oxidizer diet plan (read more about it here: The Slow Oxidizer Eating Plan and decided to give it a try.  Amazingly, within 10 days I lost 6 pounds by simply eating the specific foods listed in the diet. It’s one of those no-brainer things. Of course you’ll lose weight when you eat healthy, right? My issue is and always has been sticking to it. Even though I saw great results, life got the best of me. I messed up one meal, then another then a day turned into a week, and so on.

I was fed up! I decided to see a naturopathic doctor to see if they could give me some answers. Don’t worry, not all of them are crazy juicing and supplement pushing quacks!  I already knew what I needed to do, but I wanted to understand what exactly was going on with my body so that I knew the why.  Maybe the “why” would drive me to be more motivated to continue my efforts.

The naturopath did a huge comprehensive set of labs called the Boston Heart Diagnostics test, as well as my copper and zinc, and a few other hormones. This was amazing! This test comes with a huge color-coded personalized booklet explaining where your levels fall within the recommended ranges and whether you’re at risk for things such as heart disease, diabetes, etc. It also showed areas of inflammation, metabolics, genetics, liver, kidney, hormones and thyroid levels.

My tests revealed that I did not have any hormone imbalance except my DHEA levels were raised which is why I have the excessive dark facial hair, and there’s not much I can do about that. I don’t have diabetes, am not prediabetic, nor am I at risk for diabetes over the next 10 years according to this testing. I am, however, insulin resistant.  This confused me! How could I not have diabetes or be at risk for it, but still be insulin resistant? This website explains a lot: http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/Diabetes/insulin-resistance-prediabetes/Pages/index.aspx#metabolic “…….not everyone with these disorders has insulin resistance, and some people may have insulin resistance without getting these disorders [metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, PCOS, etc].

People who are obese or who have metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, or prediabetes often also have low-level inflammation throughout the body and blood clotting defects that increase the risk of developing blood clots in the arteries. These conditions contribute to increased risk for CVD.”

Which brings me to the next piece of the puzzle. How could I have such PCOS-like symptoms, but not have PCOS!? My copper levels were elevated, and my zinc levels were low.  So, I was right about that piece! My worries about copper toxicity starting to occur were true.

But, it doesn’t stop there. I found out that I have a genetic marker MTHFR. I am apparently an overmethylator. Right now I’m still doing my own research on this gene mutation and I won’t even pretend that I know a whole lot about it, BUT, it explains sooooo much of the issues and symptoms that I have been facing!  This is also the cause of the high copper/low zinc, high pain tolerance (I only took tylenol/ibuprofen the 2nd day after my c-section), anxiety, no motivation, weight gain, low levels of inflammation in several areas of the body, the list goes on.

There are several good websites explaining the different types of this MTHFR genetic marker as some people can be over or under methylators, so PLEASE DO NOT SELF DIAGNOSE! You must have the labs done to properly identify any of these issues, so please do not think that because you may have similar issues that you have the same condition and can treat it the same.  Luckily, while there isn’t a “cure” there are diet changes and supplements you can take to help change your health around.

For me, it was suggested that I remain on the slow oxidizer/anti-inflammatory diet and possibly even try hCG injections. I also need to take magnesium, zinc, and fish oil to start.  I’m sure I’ll be adding a few more supplements later. While the hCG sublingual drops had worked for me pretty well in the past (and now I know why) I wasn’t quite ready to spend the money on the injections yet.  I need to work on actually sticking with something that actually works!

So, I’m back at it again – a modified hCG diet. I’m trying to give myself some grace with this thing because I have a hard time sticking with it. It’s been 6 days and, while I’m not seeing huge losses like I would normally if strictly following the protocol, I am still dropping slowly which is fine by me. I’d rather see the scale go down than up!  I’m writing all of this information because it was amazing to finally know WHY I was trying everything, knew something was wrong but no one had an answer for me, and now I finally have the answer. I still have a lot to do and a lot to learn, but at least I know the exact direction I need to be going! That brings me some peace when it seemed like the odds were stacked against me to be able to lose weight.

ViSalus Shakes and hCG diet combined!

I’d love to hear from other people that have done this!  What were your results?  Comment below on your experience.  My first experience was here: https://mondaine45bodybyvi.wordpress.com/2013/03/08/body-by-vi-shakes-with-hcg-as-a-supplement-my-hybrid-diet/

I’m actually thinking about doing this combo hCG and Body By Vi shakes again next week when I receive a new package of shake mix. I did a round of the hCG diet by itself several months ago but had a hard time keeping up with it and ended giving up after about Day 18.  I found myself cheating too much.

When I did the hCG diet combined the the Body By Vi shakes before, I lost 18 pounds in 22 days.  I had given up after that point due to my own personal self-sabotage issues with weight loss in general.  Since that time (March/April of 2013) I’ve had another baby (10 months ago) and seem to just be perpetually stuck at 268-270 pounds.  But, during the past year I’ve done a TON of self-evaluation, reflection, getting to know who I am and how I deal with things, and trying to figure out why I binge eat or why I continue to get stuck in this perpetual cycle of being overweight.  That post is for another time, another day!  But I will say that a lot of that work came from the Carol Tuttle blog, her Dressing Your Truth series, and the Carol Tuttle healing library. Check out her site http://caroltuttle.com/

Anyways, I’ll try to keep posting updates and results soon!

Visalus again! It’s all about choices.

My husband and I are back at it again.  We took a hiatus of a few years, and watched some crazy stuff go down with the company. Top leaders leaving and moving on to another company, crazy rants and bashes by some of these people, which only proved them to be unprofessional and not any leadership that I would want to be under. We became a little jaded toward the company, especially being brought in as promoters several years ago under some people who were just out to make some extra cash but didn’t truly care about actually helping anybody.  We took this with a grain of salt, as this ultimately happens in many MLMs.  But the ones that stayed, we’ve watched them grow and become better leaders, and better people that actually care about what they’re doing and making a difference.  Tara Wilson, Tony & Rhonda Lucero, Madiba Thompson. These people are why we decided to re-join.  They were loyal, and they stayed professional even while things got crazy! They showed true business leadership.  I’ve seen the owners of the company give back and help out so many people, it’s beyond amazing.  It’s more than just shakes and BMW’s and vacations and money.  Sure, all those things are great. But, the people that have stuck with it are there because they get excited about seeing the changes made to people’s lives by losing weight, and changing their financial situations because of it.

Besides that, this is the ONLY protein shake my husband can stand to drink! And it’s the only one that actually works for us! We’ve tried many different store brands, and shakes that other MLMs offer, but ultimately we always ended up wishing they would taste like Vi shakes. Nothing compared!

I hear this constantly: So, why not just eat healthy all the time and work out?  Why not just learn to eat real food?  Why would anyone want to do shakes – you’re not really learning to eat healthy! What are you going to do? Drink shakes for the rest of your life to maintain? That’s not sustainable!  Guess what?  Neither is Atkins, neither is Jenny Craig, neither is hCG, Hydroxycut, and any of the other fad diets out there that lure people in promising they’ll lose tons of fat! This kind of stuff, to me, is seriously the dumbest thing I’ve heard!  Of course nobody will drink shakes for the rest of their lives. That’s stupid and unnecessary! No one is going to take pills for the rest of their lives, or count calories or points every single day, or eat prepackaged meals from a cardboard box.  We fail, we give up, and we move on to the next gimmick.  Of course you still need to learn to make healthy food choices! Of course you still need to learn to exercise!  That’s all part of it. Some people really need the help and motivation to get there though, and that’s why these products exist. They give us hope that it’s actually possible.

Our family, like I’m sure many other millions of people out there, are super busy! We both work full time jobs. We spend two hours a day in the car commuting back and forth to where we need to go.  We have to drop the kids of and pick them up.  I’m a working mom of two kids under the age of 3 years old. That alone is enough to keep us super busy, but on top of that my husband is a minister.  We do church. We do music. We do youth group. We have rehearsals. And we still have to take care of our household in between all that, plus try to fit in fun and social activities.  Sound like too much? No! These are mostly all things that we love to do and are passionate about.  (Except cleaning the house. I don’t like cleaning the house!)

But with all that busyness often comes poor food choices or not making time for exercise.  Really, we’re just not making exercise a priority. We can always find the time, but choose to do other things. Because, we’re tired from our long day and commute. It’s easier to hit up the drive through on the way home than to get home at 6pm and wait another 45 minutes for dinner to be done.  It’s easier to choose to unwind by sitting down and watching our favorite tv shows than to go for a walk around the neighborhood (especially when it’s raining outside).  It’s easier to not pay for a gym membership that we’ll never use because it takes too long to load up or figure out what to do with the kids during that time, or, the guilt of being away from them for 9 hours that day already only to then spend time at the gym….all that seems impossible to try to fit in time to take care of ourselves. Our health. And most people’s answer to that: We’re just making excuses. And, in essence, we are!

Think of the long term effects it’s had.  I sit at a desk for 8 hours a day, which is one of the worst things for your body.  I’ve been doing this line of work for about 11 years.  That’s a lot of sitting! We work through lunch so that we can get off work a little earlier, so no, I can’t just workout during my lunch break. I try to get up and move around as much as I can, but that doesn’t make a huge difference.  What have I gained from choosing not to make my health a priority?  About 109 pounds of extra fat!  My husband, about 50-65 pounds of extra fat.  Bad food choices on occasion (even before ViSalus we try to eat clean at least 80% of the time, but when you don’t exercise, that doesn’t always make a huge difference). Being stuck in the perpetual cycle of wanting to lose weight, but being too tired all the time from it to get up and do something about it.  Being surrounded by the negativity of people who are only 10-20 pounds overweight versus 100+ pounds.  You hear things like “if you really wanted it bad enough, you’d do it.” Or “you just need to do ______ and you’ll lose weight.” “You just need to try harder.” The list goes on.

Sometimes I feel like people don’t truly understand what it’s like unless they’ve actually been there.  Plus, there are soooo many other factors and complications that can come into play with someone’s inability to lose weight.  We’re not unaware that we’re overweight – we’re actually very aware of it, and for some it can cause depression, or a perpetual cycle of self-sabotage when you do start trying to lose weight.  Throw self-esteem issues in on top of that…..Bottom line — making changes sucks! Trying to lose weight sucks!  It’s not easy! If it were a matter of “just trying harder” for people who are 100 pounds plus overweight, we’d do it! No problem! I’m there, and being overweight isn’t something I ignore, it’s something that I’m constantly thinking about all. of. the. time. Especially as a woman.

I don’t even want to get started on the whole “loving yourself no matter what size you are” movement going around. I’m all for that! Great! If you’re fine with the weight you’re at – whatever that weight might be – that’s awesome! For me personally, while I do love who I am, when I look in the mirror I don’t hate myself, but I know that the reflection I see isn’t a reflection of who I am on the inside, and that is why I want to change it.  The strong, confident person I once was no longer shows through on the outside. My weight hinders me from doing a lot of things that I once loved, and that I will never be able to show my children how to do unless I make some serious changes.

So, back to ViSalus – how does drinking shakes “all the time” really make a difference?  It’s an easier transition for people who are overweight to get started making healthier choices because you’re choosing something more nutritious than the alternative (i.e. McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc.) that actually tastes good!  So, you drink the shakes or eat the cereal for a few weeks by substituting out two meals per day.  Your clothes start becoming looser. You drop a few pounds on the scale. You see that other people around you who are also doing a 90 Day Challenge are having the same results. That motivates you to keep going.  To learn more. To get better at it.  Soon, making healthier choices becomes a little bit easier.  You begin to gain momentum.  Because you’re starting to feel better, you then begin to try to add some exercise in. It takes 28 days to start a new habit – and these things have to become a habit! And, it’s frickin’ hard!!

The ridiculous notion that someone would use shakes to lose weight for the rest of their lives is just crazy to me.  This is why ViSalus set up a 90 Day Challenge! You can do anything for 3 months!  If you have a ton of weight to lose, and the first 90 days worked for you, then you motivate yourself to do another.  You do as many Challenges as it takes to reach your goal. Meanwhile, you start adding things in to your daily habits, making small changes and better choices so that when you’ve reached your goal, when you no longer need the shakes, you are still able to maintain a healthy lifestyle. To me, that’s just common sense, and it’s just one of those “don’t knock it til you try it” situations.

For me, it works! For some, it may not! Not because it’s the most healthy choice out there, but because it’s a better choice than a TON of the alternatives.  Meanwhile, when people ask me what I’m doing to lose weight – it will be because of ViSalus because it’s worked for me in the past, and I’ve seen it work for literally thousands of people over the past 3 years.

Interested in losing weight? Making more money? Doing both!!? Send me a message, comment below, or check out mondaine.myvi.net and click “I Accept the Challenge” or “I Want to Challenge Others” box!

Slowly succeeding

We’re on day 20 of our 90 Day Challenge. I am down 5 pounds, Elbert is now down 11 pounds. I’m only SLIGHTLY jealous….We’re still just continuing on with our clean eating and ViSalus shakes twice per day.  We’re also each trying to drink 2-2.5 liters of water each per day.  It gets tough.  We were never really big soda drinkers or anything, but we do love our energy drinks.  I generally tried to only have them on the weekends, and I only drank the sugar free/0 carb ones, but they’re still bad!  So my goal, really, is to try to get away from artificial sweeteners.

Speaking of ingredients……I know there’s a lot of different “stuff” out there praising ViSalus products and also trashing them, big time.  Here’s my personal opinion on it.  If you are a person who is very overweight, and I can say that because I’m over 250 pounds, and you’ve been searching for something that will help speed up the process of taking the weight off, then it doesn’t necessarily matter whether there are a few “junk” ingredients in this product.  Yes, it’s a packaged food, there’s going to be some ingredients in it to help preserve it’s shelf life.  I can see if you were a person who didn’t have too much too lose, or are very concerned about what goes into your body, then you’re in an different place and a different mindset than most.  And if that’s the case, then sure, use something else that works for you! No need to bash anything – I’m pretty sure you can go in to any vitamin/supplement or drugstore and find all sorts of crap on the shelves claiming to help people, not to mention all the other independent companies out there claiming the same. It’s really just a matter of choice and finding what works for you.

Here’s the thing – I’m pretty sure that being 50, 100, or more pounds overweight and the risks and dangers you face dealing with that weight (which may not be an issue for you at the moment, but continue it for 10, 20 years you’re bound to start having some problems!) and the items that you consume on a regular basis that “maintain” that type of lifestyle — the bad stuff in that far outweighs the bad stuff in using ViSalus shakes for a short period of time – be it 90 Days to a year – to try to get that weight off.  I do know, however, that ViSalus has helped thousands of people lose weight so it can’t be that bad!  And, if you’re a person like me who’s actually serious about losing 116 pounds, you’d realize that it may not happen in 90 Days.  During that 90 Days you also need to educate yourself on how to eat properly, begin putting exercise back in to your life, all those things.  Yes, ViSalus doesn’t have “coaches” like some other companies, but who’s to say those people are actually “qualified” to “coach” anyone when they themselves are battling weight. Their mission, though, is that you don’t go at it alone.

So, you can reach out to those people who have actually succeeded and say hey, what did you do? What worked for you?  Just like I continue to try different combinations of things to see what will work best for me.  I didn’t put the weight on overnight, it’s not going to come off overnight.  That’s why I’m focusing at least four 90 Day Challenges during this entire year on losing the weight.  I work a sedentary job full time, I have several businesses on the side, I have a husband and church activities, and I’m a first time mom to a busy 1 1/2 year old — I don’t always have “time” to figure all this stuff out.  But I do know that if I can make it a goal to eat clean 75% – 95% of the time, and use my shakes to help me reach my goals because if you’re eating well, using the shakes and exercising it works! Then I know that this year I will actually achieve my goal.  It may not be as quickly as I like, but unless I am able to dedicate 8 hours per day to work with a trainer and go to the gym to work out for hours like all of these reality shows depict, then the weight isn’t just going to fall off of me! So I have to lower my expectations that the weight is going to come off quickly when I’m not putting in the work to do it.  You cannot drink the shakes and then eat {insert favorite fast food restaurant here} every night for dinner and step on the scale next week disappointed that you didn’t lose anything.   But, any loss, big or small, is still a success and gets you that much closer to your goal.

Also wanted to mention people who say,  just eat properly with the right portion size, and exercise – you’ll lose the weight.  Yes, that can be very true and is easy for someone to say who 1) is not or never has been extremely overweight.  I’m not talking 20 pounds overweight, I’m talking hundred(s); or 2) has already lost the weight they wanted to lose in that way.  Again, there are so many different factors as to why certain ways don’t or cannot work for certain people.  Not all fat people are just plain lazy.  Some are, but not all.  Me personally, I’ve been working at it for years.  I don’t have the time, money, motivation, etc. etc. to lose weight.  But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to sit back and give up on it.  I’ve tried so many different “diets” I’ve gone several different doctors to have so many different tests performed to see if there was anything wrong with me or preventing me from losing.  Nothing came up.  Their answer was that I could just have bariatric surgery.  Not a good enough reason for me.  So it tells me that I just need to muster up the strength to try harder.

In the beginning of this blog I was saying I was slightly jealous of my husband for losing so much faster than I have.  But, if I really look at it, I’ve dropped 5 pounds since starting the Challenge 20 days ago.  Im’ being pretty good about mostly eating clean and using the shakes.  That’s still a 1/4 pound loss per day!  Even if the amount is “smaller” than I’d like it to be, it’s still a loss, and I’m still getting closer to my goal.  I’m slowly succeeding!

Side note:  We are working on moving our site over to an actual wordpress website. If you want help and training on marketing, building up your own business and actually making money at it, check out the awesome information we’re using to do that. The Money Effect is getting prepping for a HUGE launch. If you want the most awesome marketing training and advice out there get it here: http://www.themoneyeffect.net/?aff=517170ee489a6

Join us in our fight?

We’re on to our 2nd Challenge of this year.  My goal – lose 40 pounds (that’s about 3 pounds per week), and Elbert’s goal is also to lose 40 pounds.  We’re using ViSalus products plus clean eating this round.  It’s going to be a long process for me to lose over 100 pounds this year, and I know I’ve got to fight harder.  I’m down about 15 pounds so far.  I need to start a good exercise habit.  I’m guilty of “all or nothing” type thinking.  I think that I need to exercise for some certain amount every day and if I don’t do it one day I begin making excuses the next instead of picking up and continuing on again.  I also need to start smaller – I’m out of shape and cannot expect myself to do an hour workout when I’m not physically capable of doing that anymore.  But I can build up to it!  Getting into a consistent habit with no excuses is going to be my key.

We started our new 90 Day Challenge April 1.  So far, Elbert is down 8 pounds! Me, 2.5.  I have a feeling he’ll beat me to our goal this round……unless I kick myself into gear.

Here’s the great part.  We’re doing this not because we want to look better or try to feel better about ourselves.  We’re doing this because we have a bigger goal:  to help other people, and to live a healthy lifestyle. The kind where you’re not out of breath and sweating from walking up a couple of flights of stairs.  We’re doing it because we don’t want to be the parents who are yelling at their kid to stop running toward the street but can’t catch them to keep them out of danger.  Or having to tell your kid you can’t teach them how to ride a bike or kick a ball around the yard because you can’t keep up.

More importantly, the larger goal we’re working toward is owning a ranch to help troubled teens learn about animals and how to work hard and serve others. We want to make a difference in their lives.  To do that, we have to be in shape!

What if I told you I can help you lose weight, or get fit or put on some muscle!? What if I said you can get the products for free and there’s a 90 day guarantee? Or that you could also enter to win $1,000 just for losing 10 pounds?  You’d think I was crazy or joking?

What if I also said there’s a way I can help you make extra income each month, pay off debt, or even quit your regular JOB and work from home?!!

Message me and find out how Elbert and I are both fighting obesity, working toward our bigger goals, and are paying off debt!

http://mondaine.myvi.net/

Body by Vi shakes with hCG as a supplement – my hybrid “diet”

Day 1 of my modified ViSalus and hCG combo diet.  Anyone who has done the hCG diet before knows that you have to weigh every morning giving you the ability to check which foods cause you to gain or lose the most weight.  Down 1 pound the first day.  I’m hoping tomorrow will show a little bit better result.  Here’s my start for this round:

Day 1 – loading:  255.8 lbs

Day 2 – loading: 258.8 lbs

VLCD 1 – 258.8

VLCD 2 – 257.6

Here’s my “menu” or eating plan generally:

Mornings:

10-13 drops hCG

1 c. black coffee

1 ViSalus shake

late morning snack:  graham cracker w/PB or a ViSalus Nutra Cookie or a fruit

Afternoon:

10-13 drops hCG

1 ViSalus shake

Evenings:

10-13 drops hCG

Meal containing a protein (meat) and veggies and a fruit from the list of hCG diet approved foods:

Approved Proteins
White Chicken Filet Mignon (no sauce) Tilapia Ground Round White Turkey Salmon	Ocean Perch Roast White Fish Clams (10 per meal) White Pork Crab Veal Eggs	Venison Lobster Catfish Tuna Flounder Shrimp Blue Fish
Approved HCG Vegetables
Greens Celery Radishes Asparagus Brussels Sprout Zucchini Cucumbers Spinach	Bean Sprouts Onions Broccoli Dill Pickles Bell Peppers Tomatoes Cauliflower	Cabbage Lettuce Green Beans Mushrooms Carrots Peas
Approved HCG Fruits
Apples Peaches Oranges Cantaloupe	Pear Plum Strawberries Blueberries	Nectarines Grapefruit Raspberries

Also drinking at least 90 oz of water per day, but I”m trying to up that amount.

If you have ANY questions about how any of this works, please send me a message!!!  I will warn you that if not followed correctly, this is not a “safe” diet to just play around with.  Please be careful with your body and what you put into it, and by all means do NOT try to eat 500 calories per day without the hCG!!!!  You will end up dizzy, get headaches, shaky,  feel horrible, and worse – it will not help you lose weight!  People like to say “anyone can lose weight eating 500 calories per day”.  Sure, if you want to feel like absolute crap!!! But, if you were to try to go at that 500 calories per day for any longer than a few days, your body would actually begin to store fat and take essential nutrients from other areas of your body.  So yes, hCG does play an essential role in this diet to help you unlock and burn fat reserves in your body by metabolizing fat while sustaining regular energy levels, no feelings of hunger or fatigue (after the first 3-4 days), burn an extra 1,000 – 3,000 calories each day resulting in a 1/2 pound to 2 pound weight loss each day.

The point is — use common sense and listen to your body!  No “diet” is worth harming yourself  just to lose a few pounds.  I personally love the diet and don’t mind the risks as long as I’m making sure I am very cautious about what I’m doing and how my body is handling it.  Dealing with some discomfort and less “convenient” foods is a far better risk to take, to me, than continuing to be morbidly obese!

mondaine.myvi.net

ViSalus Shakes & hCG Diet – jump start your weight loss!

So, December 30 I decided that this year is going to be the year that I finally lose the 116 pounds that I’ve been carrying around (give or take) for the past 8 years.  I’ve tried so many different things, come up with so many different excuses, I’m just done with it!  It has to happen and I cannot give up.  It’s going to take hard work, and it’s going to take a lot longer than 3 months.  As my mom always reminds me….it didn’t take you a week to put that much weight on, so it’s not going to take you a week to get it off!  But I’m impatient! I want to see the scale moving (down)! 

As I mentioned, I’ve tried a lot of diets and fads and pills, etc.  One “fad” diet that people are quick to dismiss and bash and say all types of horrible things about is the hCG diet.  I have done it three times now.  Now, before you start writing all sorts of comments about how horrible this diet is, how it isn’t realistic, how it’s just a quick fix, how you’ll just gain all the weight back, that anyone would lose weight cutting down to 500 calories per day, etc. etc.  PLEASE RESEARCH THE HCG DIET BEFORE COMMENTING – I MEAN READ THE ENTIRE POUNDS AND INCHES BOOK BY DR. SIMEON AND ANYTHING ELSE YOU MAY FIND.  

In MY opinion and personal experience this has been by far the most successful “diet” I have ever been on *IF* you follow the protocol to a “T”.  It is definitely not for weak, quick-fix dieters who do not have any self control or will power.  It’s a very strict diet containing specific directions to follow and specific foods to eat/not eat.  The first round I lost 29 pounds in 32 days.  I was able to maintain that for about two months and then got pregnant.  I have done two subsequent rounds after my son was born – one resulting in just a 12 pound loss (didn’t follow the protocol too well that time), and the last round being the one I started December 30.  

Currently I’m down 20 pounds – but I lost 18 of those during the first 24 days using a combination of my ViSalus Shakes (replacing two meals per day) and hCG drops following the protocol for dinner.  You should only do this for 20-40 days depending on your body/amount of weight you need to lose.  I did this until the beginning of February, then took a break to let my body recover some.  I’m now starting again following the same combination.  

I love my ViSalus shakes, but without working out, they weren’t giving me the rapid results that I really wanted to see — by the way, with the weight I’m at, cutting calories so significantly SHOULD help me to lose a lot of weight quickly, but I don’t!  And, I’ve had my thyroid checked and it’s in optimal range, so that’s not to blame either. Anyway, the hCG diet does give me the results that I want, but for long term it’s very difficult to stick to.  So, by combining the two, I’m getting the great results I want with both! 

I’ll post more about the exact “meal plan” I’m following.  For more info on ViSalus shakes, check it out here, plus get 7 FREE fast & slimming secrets: http://mondaine45.myvi.net/loseweight/index.html

Also, learn about hCG drops here:  http://www.yourhcg.com/

Time to get Serious!

In the more recent years, I’ve had issues with working out on a regular basis.  I get going for about a month maybe, and something will come up that I end up missing a day or two.  That day or two turns into a week or two, and before you know it, it’s been several months and I’m thinking man, I need to work out!  Just like now……

I lost around 9 pounds during the first 3 weeks of my shakes.  My original goal was to lose approximately 5 pounds per week.  I’ve remained around 9 – 10 pounds lost at around 6 weeks now. It’s time to get serious if I really want to lose the weight.

I’ve never really had an issue with food per say over the last 5 years.  If I watched what I ate, I pretty much just stay the same weight. I may go up or down a pound or two, but really it’s just remained the same. I’ve tried all sorts of different “diets” where I’m just changing my eating habits and rarely lose any significant amount of weight doing that either.  I’ve cut calories, I’ve done Atkins, Weight Watchers, Clean Eating, Paleo, hCG, etc. etc.  The one that worked the best before I got pregnant toward the end of 2010 was the hCG diet. I lost 29 pounds in 32 days. It was very extreme, somewhat expensive, and not very practical, easy to stick with or necessarily safe.  It took a ton of research on my part before I tried it.  I then got pregnant in the beginning of 2011, and was unable to maintain that loss.  A large part of my weight gain is/was originally due to going from an active job and a more active lifestyle to a sedentary job. Sitting behind a desk 8-9 hours a day and still eating the same way I was while active was NOT a good thing! So for a total of about 8 years I’ve slowly packed on pounds, and become very inactive.

I decided to work out last night, even if it was for just 15 minutes, and even though it was past 8pm after our son went to sleep.  It was sort of late for working out when I go to bed around 10:30 and get up at 5am.  But I did it anyway! If I want to lose weight, I’ve got to work out!  The Body By Vi shakes are not some miracle weight loss shakes where the pounds just magically melt away while you sit back and do nothing.  I mean, I’m sure for people who have a significant amount of weight to lose and depending on their body type, that works for them.  But for me, I know that it will not work that way and I have to put in more effort than what I’m doing.  I have to combine diet and exercise.  They’re also not meant to be used for 90 days, lose a ton of weight, then go back to what you’re doing!  When you’ve completed the 90 Days, you set a new health and fitness goal!  My goal was to lose 30 pounds during this 90 Day Challenge, and if they came off easily, I wanted to try for 60.  Looks like 30 will be the more “reasonable” goal! But I need to get my butt in gear to do it!

~Jen

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The weight I have lost so far with Body By Vi remains at 10 pounds (in 35 days) http://mondaine45.myvi.net/. But, I lost another 1/2 inch all over, making that a total of 3 inches so far I believe….My clothes are definitely fitting looser! Feels pretty good, but I feel like I’m not getting the results I really should be getting.  I just need to work out!!! How do working moms do it?  I know I’ve got to make it a priority over a lot of things. I get up at 5am and go to bed between 10-11pm, the last few hours of my day are spent pretty much just crashed on the couch trying to do nothing but relax for a few.  I need a better plan. 

I wish I was headed to St. Louis with our ViSalus team! We have no money for a plane ticket, no money for gas, no time off work to drive for 24 hours to get there….so sad!  I would have had a place to stay while I was there too. Next year/next event!   

http://visalus.com/national

 

 

Battling Weight – Do you have a similar situation?

I’ve always been “thick” or “big boned.”  I’m never going to be one of those girls that eat whatever they want, are 5’6″ and weigh 120 pounds (i.e. my sister!).  Even when I was in the best shape of my life – age 16 – 20 – I’ve never been able to run a mile! How sad is that?  I’ve come to realize now that I probably have exercise-induced asthma, but I can’t let that stop me from being healthy.  I’m now 29 years old, married with our first child, and weigh the most I ever have in my life (besides during the time I was pregnant).

It’s ridiculous and sad when I look in the mirror and think, “what happened?”  This isn’t me, this isn’t the person that I look like on the inside!   I’m 106 pounds more than where I’d like to be.  I’d be happy at 150.  You do the math. This is from 8 years of not taking care of me, and putting other people first instead.  This is from drinking excessively when I turned 21, this is from going from working an active job to working behind a desk and still eating the same way, this is from going running or bike riding after work to doing nothing but crash on the couch, this is from not being happy with the way I look and not doing anything about it, this is from fad dieting and failing, this is from being pregnant several times, this is from letting life get the best of me and allowing it to stress and depress me, this is my nagging mom bugging me to lose weight, that I “just need more exercise and movement in my day (and me wanting to hand her two 50 pound bags of dog food and tell her to run up and down the stairs and see how ‘easy’ it is so I just don’t do it, This is from me being too busy taking care of my husband and kiddo and going to work to take care of myself, this is: MY FAULT.

I’ve lost weight doing many different diets, but it really comes down to me needing to be more active and work out.  I’m currently doing two replacement meal shakes from ViSalus http://mondaine45.myvi.net/ and am down 10 pounds during the first 32 days. Oh that’s great, right? WRONG! Had I actually put some more effort into this – I’d probably be down at least 20!  That’s me replacing two meals a day with shakes. And continuing on with life the way I know it, and wondering why I haven’t lost more!

I’m writing this blog because this has got to change.  I have things I want to do!  Great things! And I cannot do them while carrying around all this weight.

Join me as I work on my weight loss and making exercise a priority in my life.  It’s friggin hard when you’re 100 pounds overweight!!!!